Vaping often makes news, with some advocating for more access to e-cigarettes to aid smokers in quitting, while others are eager to see the devices outlawed due to risks, particularly for teenagers.
So how risky is it exactly? We have checked the study on vaping’s supporting documentation. It included information from more than 100 sources on tobacco harm reduction, the prevalence of vaping and its implications on health, as well as what other nations are doing in response. Below is what we discovered.
How do vaping and smoking compare?
Smoking is bad for you. In Australia, it is the top cause of death that may be prevented. Emphysema, heart attacks, strokes, bladder, mouth, and throat cancers, to mention a few, are only a few of the diseases it contributes to, accounting for 13% of all fatalities. In comparison to non-smokers, those who smoke often and don’t stop lose around 10 years of life.
The active component in cigarettes and nicotine vaping products is nicotine, a moderate stimulant. While it is addicting, smoking does not cause cancer or any other disorders associated with smoking.
While it would be ideal if individuals didn’t get hooked to nicotine, utilising a safe supply that doesn’t include lethal compounds, such nicotine gum or patches, is safer than smoking. “Harm reduction” refers to the availability of these alternative sources.
While there are risks associated with vaping, several in-depth analyses of the available data and an agreement among experts have determined that it is at least 95% safer to vape nicotine than to smoke tobacco. One estimate puts the risk of developing cancer from vaping at less than 1%.
These studies analysed the known harmful compounds in cigarettes and discovered that nicotine vapes only contained a very minimal number of them. The claim that significant health impacts won’t manifest themselves for a few more decades is thus raising more concern than is required.
Is vaping now practised by “everyone”?
Many people are worried about kids using vaping products, however the facts we presently have demonstrate that relatively few teens vape on a daily basis. According to several studies, between 9.6% and 32% of 14- to 17-year-olds have tried vaping.
Yet, fewer than 2% of teenagers aged 14 to 17 claim to have used a vaporizer in the previous year. The rate of adolescent drinking (32%) and smoking (3.2%) increased between 2016 and 2019, yet this figure is still substantially lower.
The same trend applies to substances other than alcohol: a tiny percentage of persons who try them go on to use them often or for a very long period. Around 60% of persons who attempt vaping do so only occasionally.
Australia’s smoking rates have decreased from 24% in 1991 to 11% in 2019 as a result of a variety of extremely effective policies, including restrictions on sales and smoking locations, price increases, plain packaging, improved education, and easier access to treatment programmes.
Yet using the strategies that have been successful in the past to persuade smokers who are still using tobacco is becoming more difficult. Those who continue to smoke are often older, more socially isolated, or have mental health issues.
Should vaping be banned?
So, we’re in a little bit of trouble. Adults would benefit from having access to vaping as a safer alternative to smoking as it is far less harmful than tobacco use. So, we must increase their accessibility and availability.
But ideally, we don’t want teenagers who don’t smoke to start vaping often. Others have urged a “crackdown” on vaping as a result of this.
Nevertheless, we know that outlawing or regulating vaping might possibly do more damage than good given the lengthy history of drug prohibition, including the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s.
Drug prohibition does not prevent drug use; more than 43% of Australians have used illegal substances at least once. And it seldom has any effect on drug accessibility.
Nonetheless, prohibition does have certain unexpected effects, including as making drugs more difficult to get and establishing a black market, as well as increasing damages when users move to other, often more harmful narcotics.
The absence of quality control on the underground market makes medications more harmful. And since there are no limitations on who may sell or purchase them, it actually makes it simpler for teenagers to get them.
Do the laws we now have work?
Australia outlawed the possession and use of nicotine vaping goods without a prescription in 2021. The only nation in the world to choose this course is ours.
The issue is that even after this rule has been in place for more than a year, just 8.6% of nicotine vapers have a prescription, which means that more than 90% of them are obtained illegally.
Anecdotal evidence also points to a rise in adolescent vaping popularity following the implementation of these restrictions. At most, they are doing no good.
Contrary to popular belief, the illicit market may be reduced by making quality-controlled vapes and liquids more readily available—but only to adults. If vaping items were available legally, fewer individuals would purchase them on the black market, which would lead to a drop in that industry.
Many research on drug education in schools have shown that students tend to make better judgements when they are given realistic, non-sensationalized information about drugs. The interest in drugs may rise as a result of sensationalised information. Thus, there is a need for improved education in schools, for parents, and for instructors so that everyone is aware of the risks of vaping and how to speak to children about it.
What actions have other nations taken?
Some nations enforce tight quality standards and prohibit the sale of goods to those who are younger than the legal buying age while nevertheless allowing the sale of vapes without a prescription. We regulate smokes and alcohol similarly here.
The UK has minimum production requirements as well as limitations on buying age and permitted vaping locations.
Aotearoa New Zealand used a novel strategy to lower smoking rates by outlawing the purchase of cigarettes for life. Since no one born after January 1, 2009 will ever be allowed to purchase cigarettes, the legal smoking age is always rising. NZ expanded access to vaping goods at the same time while enforcing rigorous guidelines for their creation, purchasing, and use.
All US states require retailers to have a retail licence as of the end of last year, and sales to anyone under 21 are prohibited. Also, there are limitations on where individuals may vape.
The effects of expanding access to nicotine vaping goods in Australia were recently modelled. According to the study, relaxing the present restrictive laws and facilitating adult consumers’ access to nicotine vaping goods would probably have a considerable positive impact on public health.
The issue is not whether we should forbid teenagers from using vaping goods or if adults should have more access to them as an alternative to smoking. Both of those questions have a positive response.
The important issue is: How can we successfully implement both without risking the effectiveness of any policy?
If we adopted a practical harm-reduction strategy, as other nations have, we could utilise our very effective model of tobacco product regulation as a guide to accomplish both goals.
